Land Rovers-forced labour

[dryan]

They’re great to drive, they’re great off road. If they didn’t have so many annoying issues I wouldn’t have any other vehicle.

I got mine at a decent price and have spent the same again sorting issues. So I’m not crying yet, overall it’s good value.

It will replace it with a Toyota or Isuzu at some point but I’m waiting to find a low mileage one that’s not yet rusted out. The seating and driving experience will undoubtedly be poorer, it’ll be poorer off road but it’ll undoubtedly be more reliable, plus the pickup bed is needed for hauling reds and the extra seats for my little lad.

 

[jall55]

I have had and currently have 2 and they are awesome - not much else can carry and cart like they do - or get to the places they get to
And when they break they are relatively easy and cheap to fix

My trucks get worked - really worked - i managed to snap a navara in 2 - split a Rav 4 - rip the chassis to bits on a trooper - So you perhaps get the picture

 

[Flash G 74]

Hello, They must be still well liked across the World despite the problems they incure as there is a New Warehouse with 10 million £s of spare parts not long opened local, But it is Trade only

 

[tackb]

Hello, They must be still well liked across the World despite the problems they incure as there is a New Warehouse with 10 million £s of spare parts not long opened local, But it is Trade only

so well liked they need £10 million of spare parts available just to keep them on the road !

the landcruiser spare parts division is in the top draw of the service managers desk....... and he only works a short week.......

 

[JockStalk]

He says, it will stay with him till he croaks

Is that another way of saying it’ll be the death of him?

 

[Donkey Basher]

I was forced to drive LR Defenders so wouldn't touch one again even if I was paid to do so
I made the mistake of buying a Discovery 4, that cured me of any affection for the brand
As for their being "great off roaders" - well, they can with a lot of expensive work be turned into great off-roaders but can't touch the likes of Toyota, Jeep etc for straight out of the dealership off-road capability
Thanks for your post though, reminds me why I despise & detest landies

My first experience of driving a Discovery 2 was at a Land Rover Experience session back in 2002. I was booked in to drive a Freelander using the half day voucher all new owners got but when I rocked up late morning I was told that someone had stacked the Freelander that morning so I could either drive a Defender Td5 or a Discovery 2 V8 auto - I chose the D2 as I owned a Defender 90 at the time. After the usual showing off what it could over the elephants footsteps etc we headed off into the woods for the muddy tracks, hill climbs & a bomb hole. At one junction I was asked to turn right & try a muddy track up a steep slope - a bit of right lock & we slid on past down the ruts we were in, back up & try again, still slide past. Instructor said oh well its just too muddy… red rag at a bull… this time I backed up with some left lock on & popped the front wheels out of the ruts. Then it was off up the hill with the traction control chattering & the mud flying, all the way to the top & the lass instructing was giggling like a school girl in the passenger seat. As soon as we got back to the lodge she was telling all the other instructors we’d been up whatever name the hill was in the D2 - apparently this was quite a feat as a) it’d been too wet & muddy for anyone to get up it for weeks & b) the D2 was on bog standard Michelin tyres… Funnily enough the D2 I have now is a V8 auto in the same colour & with the same colour interior too.

 

[CAVHUNT]

Ahh Landrover...it's a disease. Years ago I saw a car review article with coloured photos in a 4WD magazine. The vehicle was a long wheel base Range Rover and I was infected...sigh. And so it was that a 1994 soft dash LSE with the petrol V8 came to live with me. The command driving position and the ride comfort is superb [air suspension] and I do like to hear the V8 burbling away and roaring when the loud pedal is pushed. Today I still have it and it is still used as a hunting vehicle. But...and here's the rub...it needs constant repairs. I managed to cook an engine once when traversing some steep, gnarly 4WD tracks so a new block and remanufactured heads and all was good for a bit. The 10 MPG off road is just part of the ownership experience. It does have one redeeming feature...unlike you guys with salt on your roads and the red cancer it causes my LSE does not have one speck of rust...solid as the day it left the factory. But reliable it is not. I've learnt too have a second fourby and apart from three Jeeps it is always Japanese and never a Land Roverr. But no...as much as I like them I'll never have another one.

 

[dryan]

I suppose it’s a bit like a mad girlfriend that we’ve all had at some point, you know the type, mad as a hatter, so much that you know you couldn’t possibly settle down with her, but because she’s really good at certain things you just keep making excuses and go back for more!

 

[Yorkie]

I had a Freelander MK1 petrol. It was like Trigger's broom. Biggest piece of crap i have owned in 44 years of motoring.

Like most Land Rover products, the design was great, it was just poorly engineered and made out of fairy liquid bottles and sticky back plastic like a Blue Peter project.

 

[CAVHUNT]

That is one great analogy dryan. You nailed it 100%

 

[Liveonce]

well over the last god know how many years I have owned a LR 90, freelander one, two discoveries and now a freelander two. Yes they all had to be repaired. The freelander one would drop its rear window for no reason a real pain when raining, the square recess in the boot would fill with water, could have kept gold fish in it
The discoveries were good tow vehicles, The current freelander two is a nice drive and apart from routine maintenance like a timing belt, servicing and MOT is a pleasure to own. However i do a very lot less millage in it than any of the others I have owned. For off road use when i was much younger the 90 was brilliant.

 

[nocturnaldave]

They are one of the few vehicles that you can love in the morning (before you try to start it) and hate by lunch time….. I look after the mechanicals of several shooting buses that run around here. One is a series 3….. in some ways it’s the best of the bunch and in others it’s the worst. Key is to stay on top of the problems as they arrive and better still prevent them.

 

[Bo Diddley]

That is one great analogy dryan. You nailed it 100%

Agreed. Women like that remind me of drugs, once you have gone cold turkey for long enough and purged the system, you wonder how it all began...

Disclaimer: I've never taken illegal drugs in my life, just witnessed the devastation with a few folks.

 

[kenbro]

so well liked they need £10 million of spare parts available just to keep them on the road !

the landcruiser spare parts division is in the top draw of the service managers desk....... and he only works a short week.......

Changed me mind…
KB.

 

[kenbro]

My first experience of driving a Discovery 2 was at a Land Rover Experience session back in 2002. I was booked in to drive a Freelander using the half day voucher all new owners got but when I rocked up late morning I was told that someone had stacked the Freelander that morning so I could either drive a Defender Td5 or a Discovery 2 V8 auto - I chose the D2 as I owned a Defender 90 at the time. After the usual showing off what it could over the elephants footsteps etc we headed off into the woods for the muddy tracks, hill climbs & a bomb hole. At one junction I was asked to turn right & try a muddy track up a steep slope - a bit of right lock & we slid on past down the ruts we were in, back up & try again, still slide past. Instructor said oh well it’s just too muddy… red rag at a bull… this time I backed up with some left lock on & popped the front wheels out of the ruts. Then it was off up the hill with the traction control chattering & the mud flying, all the way to the top & the lass instructing was giggling like a school girl in the passenger seat. As soon as we got back to the lodge she was telling all the other instructors we’d been up whatever name the hill was in the D2 - apparently this was quite a feat as a) it’d been too wet & muddy for anyone to get up it for weeks & b) the D2 was on bog standard Michelin tyres… Funnily enough the D2 I have now is a V8 auto in the same colour & with the same colour interior too.

It’s not the same one recycled, is it?
Ken.
Ps. My FL2 is coming up to 270k now and still goes from one mot/ service to the next without having to top up the engine oil.
Bought off SD.
KB.

 

[Dodder]

My brother knows a guy who was a few years ago the service manager for a large LR main dealer. He then went to work for either Hyundai or Kia in the same role. I naively asked why he would go from a prestigious brand like LR to the likes of H/K & he replied that the guy was simply fed up with people coming in and giving him grief over reliability issues with new and nearly new cars - reckoned his life was much easier and less stressful now!

 

[doric_prince]

?????

 

[Swedish]

I suppose it’s a bit like a mad girlfriend that we’ve all had at some point, you know the type, mad as a hatter, so much that you know you couldn’t possibly settle down with her, but because she’s really good at certain things you just keep making excuses and go back for more!

Yep, the sex is great but afterwards you're still left with the crazy!

 

[nocturnaldave]

Good luck keeping a grenadier going… that’s gonna get pricey in a few years… Doric!

 

[tackb]

My brother knows a guy who was a few years ago the service manager for a large LR main dealer. He then went to work for either Hyundai or Kia in the same role. I naively asked why he would go from a prestigious brand like LR to the likes of H/K & he replied that the guy was simply fed up with people coming in and giving him grief over reliability issues with new and nearly new cars - reckoned his life was much easier and less stressful now!

a good friend of mine was dealer principle at land rover a while ago so i got to know a few of the guys , the top service guy there told me that some landrovers are less bad than others and it's a lottery what you'll get !

my mate now works at a bentley dealers in oman.........